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Super Mario Bros. 3
(also referred to as 'Super Mario 3' and 'SMB3') is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), and is the fifth game in the ''Super Mario series. The game was released in Japan in 1988, in the United States in 1990, and in Europe in 1991. Development was handled by Nintendo's Research & Development Team 4, led by Shigeru Miyamoto, who directed the game along with Takashi Tezuka. The game centers on the quest of Mario and Luigi to save the rulers of seven kingdoms from Bowser, the series' antagonist. The two brothers must travel across eight worlds to restore order to the Mushroom World. It built on the gameplay of previous Mario games by introducing new power-ups that augment character abilities, and established conventions that were carried over to future games in the series. Prior to its private consumer North American release, game play footage from Super Mario Bros. 3 appeared in the Universal Studios film The Wizard, which helped fuel the game's anticipation among fans. Upon its release, the game was commercially successful and has since become one of the best-selling video games in the industry. Super Mario Bros. 3 was well received by critics and has been included in numerous lists of top 100 video games. The success of the game resulted in an animated television show based on its elements, and in the game's re-release on later Nintendo consoles. Gameplay Super Mario Bros. 3 is a two-dimensional platform game in which the player controls the on-screen protagonist (either Mario or Luigi) from a third-person perspective. The game shares similar gameplay mechanics with previous titles in the series—''Super Mario Bros., ''Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, and Super Mario Bros. 2—but introduces several new elements. In addition to the running and jumping moves found in past games, the player can fly and float with the aid of special items, slide down slopes, and execute new types of jumps. Super Mario Bros. 3 is set after the events of previous games. Mario and Luigi embark on a mission on behalf of Princess Toadstool to stop Bowser and his children (called "Koopalings") from terrorizing the kings of seven regions in the Mushroom World; the Koopalings stole the kings' magic wands and transformed them into animals. Each region serves as a game world that is divided into stage levels, and an eighth region is included as the final world, Dark Land. The eight worlds feature distinct visual themes; for example, the second world, "Desert Land", contains sand-covered levels with pyramids, while the levels in the fourth world, "Giant Land", are populated with obstacles and enemies four times as large as other worlds. The player navigates through the game via two game screens: an overworld map and a level playfield (pictured left). The overworld map displays an overhead representation of the current world and has several paths leading from the world's entrance to a castle. Paths connect to action panels, fortresses and other map icons, and allow players to take different routes to reach the world's goal. Moving the on-screen character to an action panel or fortress will allow access to that level's playfield, a linear stage populated with obstacles and enemies. The majority of the game takes place in these levels, with the player traversing the stage by running, jumping, and dodging or defeating enemies. Completing stages allows the player to progress through the overworld map and to succeeding worlds. Each world features a final stage with a boss to defeat; the first seven worlds feature an airship controlled by one of the Koopalings, while the player battles Bowser in his castle in the eighth world. Other map icons include large boulders and locked doors that impede paths, and special minigames that provide the player a chance to obtain special power-ups. A new feature is the player's option to save power-up items obtained in minigames for later use via a menu accessible at the overworld screen. In addition to special items from previous games like the "Super Mushroom" and "Fire Flower", new power-ups are introduced that provide the player with new gameplay options. Items vary in scarcity; for example, 1-up mushrooms, which give the player an extra attempt to play after the character dies, are abundant, while the "magic whistle", which enables the player to bypass certain worlds, only appears three times in the game. The "Super Leaf" and "Tanooki Suit" give Mario raccoon and tanuki appearances respectively and allow him to fly for a short period of time. Other suits include the "Frog Suit," which increases the character's underwater speed and agility and improves jumping height on land, and the "Hammer Suit," which gives Mario the appearance of the Hammer Bros. enemy and allows him to throw hammers at enemies and resist fire attacks. Some abilities provided by the suits are intended to give the player more navigation options in stages. For example, the Frog Suit allows the player to access underwater pipes, and the Tanooki Suit can temporarily transform Mario into an invincible statue, reducing the threat of damage. During the game, Mario can find a Warp Whistle, which will take him to a new area of the game. When using the Whistle, the tune played is the exact melody used from the Whistle in The Legend of Zelda. Super Mario Bros. 3 includes a multiplayer option which allows two players to cooperatively play the game by taking turns at navigating the overworld map and accessing stage levels; the first player controls Mario, while the other controls Luigi. Through this mode, players can also access several minigames, including a remake of the original Mario Bros. arcade game. Development Super Mario Bros. 3 was developed by a group within Nintendo's Research & Development Team 4, and took more than two years to complete. Developer Shigeru Miyamoto directed the designers and programmers, working with them closely during the initial concepts and final stages, encouraging a free interchange of ideas. Miyamoto considered intriguing and original gameplay ideas to be key to creating a successful game. The game was designed to appeal to players of varying skill levels. To assist less skilled players, bonus coins and extra lives are more abundant in earlier worlds, while later worlds present more complex challenges for more experienced players. In the two-player mode, the players alternate turns to balance play time. The development team introduced new power-ups and concepts that would give Mario the appearance of different creatures as a means of providing him with new abilities. An early idea changed Mario into a centaur, but was dropped in favor of a raccoon tail that allows limited flying ability. Other costumes with different abilities were added to his repertoire, and levels were designed to take advantage of these abilities. New enemies were included to add diversity to the game, along with variants of previous enemies, such as Goombas, Hammer Bros., and Koopa Troopas. The real life experiences of Miyamoto and his staff provided the inspiration for new enemies. For example, the idea for the Chain Chomp enemies (spherical, dog-like creatures) came from a bad experience Miyamoto had with a dog as a child. Bowser's children were designed to be unique in appearance and personality; Miyamoto based the characters on seven of his programmers as a tribute to their work and efforts. The Koopaling's names were later altered to mimic names of well-known, Western musicians in the English localization. The North American release of the game featured some minor graphical differences, and (to make the difficulty level a bit easier) was changed so that if Mario was hit by an enemy, he would merely lose whatever power-up he had instead of shrinking to small size like in the original Super Mario Bros. The character graphics were created by using a special graphics machine ("Character Generator Computer Aided Design") that generated a collection of all the graphical shapes used in the game. Shapes in the collection were assigned numbers that the game's code uses to access during gameplay, and are combined to form complete images on the screen in real time. The Super Mario Bros. 3 cartridge uses Nintendo's custom MMC3 (Memory Management Controller) ASIC to enhance the NES capabilities. The MMC3 chip allows for animated tiles, extra RAM for diagonal scrolling, and a scanline timer to split the screen. The game uses these functions to split the game screen into two portions, a playfield on the top and a status bar on the bottom, allowing the top portion to scroll as the character navigates the stage while the bottom portion remains static to display text and other information. During 1988, a shortage of ROM chips, along with Nintendo of America's preparation of a [[Super Mario Bros. 2|version of Super Mario Bros. 2 for Western gamers]] (since the [[Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels|Japanese SMB2]] was deemed too difficult), prevented Nintendo from releasing SMB3 and some other games in North America on schedule. The delay, however, presented Nintendo with an opportunity to promote the game in a feature film. In 1989, Tom Pollack of Universal Studios approached Nintendo of America's marketing department about a video game movie; inspired by Nintendo video game competitions, Pollack envisioned a video game version of Tommy for younger audiences. Nintendo licensed its products for inclusion in what would become the film The Wizard. During the movie's production, the filmmakers requested and were granted approval from Nintendo regarding the script and portrayal of the company's games. Super Mario Bros. 3 was one of the products shown in the film, and was used in a final scene involving a video game competition. The film was released in December 1989, a few months before the game was released. Most of the Koopalings have wild punk hairstyles and are named after musicians. Each Koopaling was personally designed by a different member of the production staff of Super Mario Bros. 3, which Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto explains is a way to honor the creators of the games personally. Reception Super Mario Bros. 3 was a commercial success and became one of the video game industry's best-selling games. Its inclusion in The Wizard served as a preview and generated a high level of anticipation in the United States prior to its release. Levi Buchanan of IGN considered Super Mario Bros. 3 s appearance in the film as a show-stealing element, and referred to the movie as a "90-minute commercial" for the game. By 1993, the game had sold 4 and 7 million units in Japan and the United States respectively, earning Nintendo over US$500 million in revenue. Author David Sheff commented that, in music industry terms, the game went platinum eleven times. In 2008, Guinness World Records listed the game as the best-selling video game to be sold separately from a system, and reported worldwide sales of over 18 million copies. Game Informer reported in their October 2009 issue that the Virtual Console version had sold one million copies. Game Informer also made Super Mario Bros. 3 number 9 in their Top 200 video games of all time. The game was well received by the video game press. Julian Rignall of Mean Machines referred to Super Mario Bros. 3 as the "finest videogame" he had ever played, citing its addictive gameplay that offered depth and challenge. A second Mean Machines reviewer, Matt Regan, anticipated the game would be a top-selling title in the United Kingdom, and echoed Rignall's praise calling it a "truly brilliant game". Regan further stated that the gameplay offered elements which tested the player's "brains and reflexes", and that though the graphics were simple, they were "incredibly varied". In a preview of the game, Nintendo Power gave it high marks in graphics, audio, challenge, gameplay, and enjoyability. Edge magazine considered Super Mario Bros. 3 Nintendo's standout title of 1989, and commented that its success outshone the first Super Mario Bros. s sales milestone; the first title sold 40 million copies, but was bundled with the NES. They lauded the overworld map as an elegant alternative to a menu to select levels. Allgame's Skyler Miller praised many of the game's elements: level design, graphics, music, and nonlinear gameplay. Dengeki referred to the game as a popular title and expressed excitement over its rerelease on the Game Boy Advance system. The in-game, hidden items were a well-received element. Rignall considered them a component of the game's addictiveness, and Sheff stated that finding the secret items in the game, such as the whistles, provided a sense of satisfaction. Criticism focused on different aspects of the game. Miller considered the exclusion of a system to save progress a drawback, while Rignall described the audio and visuals as being outdated compared to games on the then new Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). These two problems would be fixed in the game's remake for Super Mario All-Stars in 1993. The game was also criticized for its comparatively high difficulty level. Because of its popularity, Super Mario Bros. 3 has appeared on numerous top video game lists. The game debuted on Nintendo Power s Top 30 list at number 20 in September 1989. It entered the list's top 10 a few months later and reached number one in May 1990. Super Mario Bros. 3 remained within the top 20 for more than five years. More than a decade later, the magazine ranked the game number six on their list of 200 Greatest Nintendo Games. In August 2008, Nintendo Power listed Super Mario Bros. 3 as the second best Nintendo Entertainment System video game, praising it for making the series more complex and introducing new abilities that have since become signature abilities in the series. The game placed 11th, behind Super Mario Bros., in Official Nintendo Magazine s "100 greatest Nintendo games of all time". In 2007, Screwattack called Super Mario Bros. 3 the best Mario game in the series as well as the best game on the NES, citing the graphics, power-ups, secrets, and popularity, summing it up as "it is just incredible" and "If you haven't experienced this greatness, we pity you". In a poll conducted by Dengeki, it tied with Super Mario World as the number three video game their readers first played. The game has been ranked on several of IGN's lists of "top games". In 2005, they rated it 23rd among their Top 100 Games, and praised the precise and intuitive controls. IGN editors from the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia ranked Super Mario Bros. 3 number 39 in their 2007 Top 100 Games, citing Miyamoto's "ingenious" designs. They further commented that the game improved on the "already-brilliant concepts" of the previous titles with new power-ups and enemies. Users and readers of the website placed the game high on similar lists: 32nd in 2005 and 21st in 2006. In 2007, it was included in the "game canon", a list of the ten most important video games selected by a committee to preserve key titles within the industry. In 2009, Game Informer put Super Mario Bros. 3 9th on their list of "The Top 200 Games of All Time", saying that it is "a game with incredible lasting power that we won't soon forget". Legacy Super Mario Bros. 3 introduced several elements which were carried over to subsequent Mario titles. A similar overworld map is used in Super Mario World and New Super Mario Bros., and Mario's ability to fly has been a feature in such games as Super Mario World, Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy. Bowser's red hair was first popularized in the game (though it was originally added in Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen! in 1986), and has since become a part of his standard appearance. Through a collaboration between NBC and Nintendo of America, an animated television series titled The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 was created in 1990 by DIC Entertainment. The show aired weekly and featured numerous characters, enemies, and settings from the video game; the original seven Koopalings are given different names based on their given personalities and are also given a new age order. Other Nintendo products have included various elements from the game as well. Music from Super Mario Bros. 3 appears as a track on Nintendo Sound Selection Koopa, a collection of songs from Nintendo games. The game's stages and graphics comprise a background theme in the 2006 Nintendo DS game Tetris DS. The Koopalings are also world bosses in Super Mario World, Mario is Missing!, Yoshi's Safari, Hotel Mario and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, however, they are mini-bosses in Bowser's Castle. Remakes The game has been ported to several other Nintendo consoles. In 1993, it was included in Super Mario All-Stars, a SNES compilation of enhanced remakes of NES Mario games. A Game Boy Advance version, Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, was released in 2003, and included several updates. It features similar graphics to the SNES port along with a larger color palette and parallax scrolling, although the latter not to the same extent. The Mario Bros. minigame allows up to four players instead of two, and the Nintendo e-Reader peripheral gives the player access to walkthrough demonstrations as well as new items and levels. In late 2007, Super Mario Bros. 3 was released via the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console service, featuring the original graphics and gameplay of the NES version. Computer version Windows Released August 1993 System requirements *Windows 3.0/3.1/95/98/NT *Intel 5 MHz processor or higher *3 MB RAM *720 KB or 1.44 MB floppy drive *48 MB of disk space Macintosh Released August 1993 System requirements *Motorola 16MHz or higher *3 MB RAM (6MB RAM recommended) *System Software 2.0 or higher *256 Color, 512x384 Display or Better *400 KB, 800 KB, or 1.44 MB floppy drive References External links * [http://www.nintendo.com/wii/virtualconsole/games/detail/kJyITQolhiZ0m1WXkKlNJJ6ZlYqnyC8U Super Mario Bros. 3] (Virtual Console version) at Nintendo's website * [http://www.mariowiki.com/Super_Mario_Bros._3 Super Mario Bros. 3] at Super Mario Wiki * [http://www.nindb.net/mario/super-mario-bros-3.html Super Mario Bros. 3] at NinDB * [http://themushroomkingdom.net/games/smb3 Super Mario Bros. 3] at The Mushroom Kingdom: Super Mario Bros. downloads and information Category:1988 video games Category:Mario platform games Category:Mario Universe games Category:Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development games Category:Nintendo Entertainment System games Category:Nintendo Research & Development 2 games Category:PlayChoice-10 games Category:Virtual Console games Category:Video game sequels